Getting it dead right

Make sure you get your funeral sorted says the Post Office®

As the credit crunch takes effect many people are reviewing their finances but one thing people often forget about is planning for a funeral should the worst happen. In fact recent research for the Post Office® shows that only 15 per cent of us will actually plan in advance to cover the costs of our funeral and perhaps even more importantly stipulate the kind of funeral we want.

Post Office® research has shown that, given the choice, only half the UK population would opt for a traditional burial or cremation. It also revealed that the favourite UK spot to have ashes scattered would be the Lake District followed by the deceased’s favourite football ground.

If they planned ahead, 18 per cent of people would opt to have their ashes turned into a diamond and 13 per cent made into a firework. A quarter of people would go for a more eco friendly cardboard coffin and 15 per cent for freeze drying where your body is frozen then shattered into a biodegradable dust.

Forty per cent of those surveyed would want a celebratory-style funeral with nobody dressed in black although 10 per cent would go for a funeral procession with black horses and carriage.

Despite the fact that the cost of a funeral is generally well over GBP 2,000 these days, the research showed that nearly half (47 per cent) of people thought it would cost less than GBP 2,000. And only 30 per cent of people would have GBP 2000 or more to cover the cost of a loved one’s funeral if they died tomorrow.

Post Office® life insurance manager Duncan Caesar-Gordon said: "The cost of a funeral can run in to several thousand pounds. Taking out the Over 50s life insurance cover means you will receive a guaranteed cash sum so at least family and friends will have money to put towards a traditional funeral or a special send off you may have in mind.

For the purposes of products regulated under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000, Post Office Ltd is an appointed representative of Bristol & West plc, who are authorised
and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered in England no. 2124201. Registered Office: Bristol & West plc, One Temple Back East, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6DX.

"The options available for a creative ‘send-off’ are growing all the time. Original hearses such as a motorcycle and sidecar can be arranged while some people might go for a coffin painted with flowers or the badge of their favourite football team. And even if you want something a bit more low key or traditional it’s well worth spending some time thinking about what’d you’d really want, even if it is simply deciding what flowers you’d like."

To help cover the cost of your funeral the Post Office® can provide Over 50s Life Cover from just GBP 7 per month. To apply, customers simply need to visit any of the Post Office®’s 14,000 branches nationwide, call 0800 096 5597 or visit www.postoffice.co.uk.

Ends

Notes to editors:

Some famous examples of good funeral planning and original celebrations are:

• Hugh Heffner has bought a plot next to Marilyn Monroe so he can be buried next to the "most beautiful woman who ever lived"
• Bela Lugosi was buried in his Dracula costume
• Evel Knievel planned a huge send-off including preparing his tombstone before death and a giant fireworks display
• Fear and loathing in Las Vegas author, Hunter S Thompson went one step further and requested his ashes be fired as a giant firework from a canon. He also instructed friends to remember him with the clink of ice in whiskey
• Bernard Manning wrote his own obituary four months before his death which was published in the Daily Mail after he died
• Spike Milligan’s tombstone was the subject of much debate before eventually the inscription "I told you I was ill" in Gaelic was agreed upon

For more information please contact:
Miranda Seymour
Clare Waller
[email protected]
[email protected]
Hayley Fowell
Royal Mail
Press Office
80 Old Street
London
EC1V 9NN
[email protected]